Slat for porch-shades and the like.



A. C. HOUGH.

SLAT FOR PORCH SHADES AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED 0015, 1907.

932, 1 2'7. Patented Aug. 24, 1909.

WITNESSES INVENTOI? aw? Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE i AZEL C. HOUGH, OF J'ANESVILLE, WISCONSIN, ASSIG-NOR TO HOUGH SHADE CORPORATION, OF

JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN, A GOBPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

SLAT FOR PORCH-SHADES AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Application filed October 5, 1907. Serial No. 396,004.

932,127. Aug. 24, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AZEL C. HOUGH, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Janesville, in the county of Rock and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Slat for Porch-Shades and the Like, of which the following is a specification.

My'invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of porch and window shades, Venetian blinds, and the like, which have a substantial weft, and more particularly to such weft itself, which latter in the present case consists of slats made of molded material having a basis of wood or other vegetable matter, or ofv any substance in fact that-can be formed and ressed into shape in a practical manner whi e in a 111 y condition so as to produce slats suitab e or the urpose, such slats having reinforcing mem ers incorporated therewith to impart thereto the necessary strength and rigidity and at the same time leave them sufiiciently flexible, all as hereinafter set forth.

The object of my invention is to produce a. strong, durable, uniform, and in every way praeticableslat ada ted to be utilized as a yveft unit in shades o the class specified, which is an inexpensive substitute for the wood slat commonly used.

A further object is to provide a slat of this kind with means of attachment for. cords,

rods, etc., such means consisting of members partially embedded in the slat and having protruding parts adapted -to afford the required points for attachment.

I attain these objects by the means illustrggeltll in the accompanying drawings, in w c Figure 1 is a view on a reduced scale of,

the upper part of'a-shade which embodies a practical form of my invention, portions of some of the slats being broken away .to show their construction; Fig. 2, an elevation of a part of a shade in which fastening attachments and rods are employed, in place of the usual textile wa for connecting the slats to form the sha 0; Fig. 3, a cross-sec- .tion' of a slat rovided with the fastening attachment; Fig. 4, an end view. of a slat without such attachment, and, Fig. 5, an end view of a slat showing a modified form of attachment. q

Similar figkures refer to similar parts throughout t e several views.

be observed that this device primarily consists of-a slat 5 within the body of which three reinforcing members 6 are embedded, the latter extending lengthwise of the former. The slat .5 is molded and pressed into shape out of any suitablematerial or substance while in the form of pulp, with .the members 6 therein, said members having beenintroduced into the plastic mass at an early stage in the process of manufacture. The configuration of the slat may vary more or less, although probably it will not depart widely from that of those inade of Wood. The members 6 are preferably made of wire, and more or less than three may be embedded in a single slat.

The slat 5 reinforced as above described may be e uipped on one or both longitudinal edges wit any desired number of astening attachments 7, such devices being in the general form of eyes or 100 s having their shanks embedded in th s at. These attachments may be mad of wire bent or twisted into shape, or theymay be-cut out of sheet-metal as shown; and when there is a wire rod 6 near the ed e of the slat where the attachments are ocated I refer to fasten the inner terminals of the atter directly to suchrod. One side of the eye or loop in each attachment 7 might be left open so as to transform as it were such eye or loop into a hook which would nevertheless amount to the same thing and serve the same purpose as the complete eye or l0opv see Fig.

The fastening attachments 7 may be em-v ployed as a means of suspension for the shade, or as a-means forconnecting two or more slats to ether, or they maybe omitted alto ether. Tn Fig. 1 a portion of a'wovensha e a pears, the upper edge of the upper Having reference to the drawings, it will slat 5 0 which is equipped with fastening attachments 7 for the reception of a supporting rod, cord or cords (not shown) provided to support the shade. sents the warp.

It is obvious that b providin both longitudinal edges of the s ats with t e fastening attachments provision is made for securing such slats together with cords or rods. 9 which' are passed through such attachments and so producin a shade without the usu textile warp, as 1 ustrated in- Fig. 2. I The various kinds of shades into the con- Inthis-view 8 reprev struetion of which my improved slat enters are found to possess not onl advanta es peculiar to themselves, but a so all of t e advantages which pertain to the old style of shade; the reinforced molded slat without being too inflegrible or rigid is strong and dura 1e, and also comparatively light. As has already been pointed out, this slat can be made of any suitable shape in cross-section, which is not the M139 with a slat made of wood. I Y

I am aware that rods for the purpose of binding together and strengthening have been used before in molded material, hence do not claim broadly such material havin other materials or substances embedde 1. As a new article of manufacture, a f

shade, of the class described, consisting of a plurality of molded slats spaced apart, and aving longitudinally-extending relnforcin members within, means for uniting suc slats to form the shade, and fastening means 2.5

partially embedded in the top slat of the shade so formed and secured to an adjacent reinforcing member.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a

shade,'of the class described, consisting of a 30 partially embedded-in the top slat of the 35 shade so formed and secured to an adjacent relnforclng member.

AZEL O. HOUGH.

Witnesses:

ALONZO HUBBARD, Born C. GARDNER. 

